Madha

About halfway between Khor Fakkan and Fujairah lies the curious Omani exclave of Madha – a tiny dot of Omani territory (comprising just 75 square kilometres) completely surrounded by the UAE. The area is reached via a single surfaced road off the main coastal highway between Khor Fakkan and Fujairah city near the district of Qurayya.

There’s nothing particular to see here, beyond the unremarkable modern town of Madha itself, surrounded by mountains. The enclave is notable mainly for one geopolitical oddity: the village of Nahwa (a few kilometres further along the road past Madha town, at the end of the tarmac). Bizarrely, this village actually belongs to the UAE emirate of Sharjah, creating a Russian-doll effect whereby the UAE territory of Nahwa is enclosed within the Omani district of Madha, which is enclosed by the UAE emirates of Fujairah and Sharjah – which are themselves bookended by Omani territory on either side.